Kisnorbo has left Melbourne Victory in the lurch and good luck to him

“We are disappointed to see Patrick leave the club so early in his expected journey with us,” a club chairman adds.

However, Patrick has informed us that he intended to use this as a chance to further his coaching career. As you are well aware, the club was taken by surprise by the decision and is really upset about it.

Kisnorbo must have signed for what will be some substantial money somewhere just four days before the Melbourne Derby, where Victory will most likely enter the match as the clear favorite against a struggling but injured and undermanned Melbourne City.

I wish him luck. From a management or player perspective, loyalty is simply nonexistent in football these days. As soon as the bleeding heart brigade realizes this, switching clubs can be done without the emotional bullshit that frequently surrounds big contracts.

If Kisnorbo hadn’t made an immediate impression upon arriving at the club, Melbourne Victory would have shattered the contract with him. In a similar vein, a manager will immediately bench any player whose performances fall short of their standards.

This is how football has evolved. Although some might contend that some players in the league may be given an advantage due to past performance, handshake deals and selection based on past actions are long gone.

However, based on what we witness every week in the international game, the brutal and competitive nature of contemporary professional sport is largely easy to comprehend and watch.

Kisnorbo returned to Australia following a disappointing stint with Troyes in France with the pledge to dedicate himself to the Victory cause, just as Ange Postecoglou had pledged his devotion to and enthusiasm for the Celtic supporters who embraced him with adoration and admiration.

After only two seasons and 113 games as the manager of the Scottish powerhouse, Postecoglou seized the opportunity to further his career in the world’s top league. Kisnorbo won nine league and cup games during his brief 12-match stint with Victory in Melbourne.

The transfer ends a season that appeared to be headed in the right direction for one of the most successful and influential teams in the A-League.

Arthur Diles, a Victory assistant, will now take charge in the near future and try to keep the gifted team on course for a 2024–2025 semi-final appearance. The endeavor is more than doable given the animals at his disposal.

But it’s unclear exactly what impact the Victory manager’s exit will have as the season moves into its second third and the hectic holiday season forces the squad to switch from weekend football to a more flexible play schedule.

Victory follow up the derby clash with City this weekend and move on to a Big Blue the following Saturday, before tackling current ladder leaders and the still-undefeated Auckland FC just four days later. Three days later, they host the Wanderers.

It is that kind of scheduling that requires teams to be united, calm and well prepared, something that Kisnorbo’s departure will almost certainly affect. If Diles can pull it together, all credit to him, yet the Victory board will be furious that a season looming as a potentially championship-winning one, could be derailed by the unexpected departure of the coach, just when the confidence was building in the group.

That group is mighty impressive, with names like Jason Geria, Daniel Arzani, Zinedine Machach, Bruno Fornaroli, Jordi Valadon, Roderick Miranda and Reno Piscopo right to think they are well inside the championship window.

Kisnorbo’s departure puts all the planning and preparation in jeopardy, but it will not be his lack of loyalty that prevents the squad from climbing the mountain this season.

Rather, it will be the straightforward reality that neither managers nor players have a strong emotional attachment to the teams they currently represent. Football is a little worse off for that.